dotheboyshall

<i>Few Edinburgh tenements have elevators/lifts, even the newer ones, so you'd be hauling your stroller and baby up two flights of stairs. </i>

And most tenements have high ceilings so it could be the equivalent of three flights of stairs in a more modern property.

excited_confused

Hi, DH, DD and myself just decided on a trip to Edinburgh in July and am having a hard time finding anything centrally located under $200 per night for the three of us. Have found a 2BR apt on Easter St, #61, which is newly remodeled. I know the area is a bit far from Old Town etc, but given the limited availability and the fact that we do not want anything higher than the first floor, I am strongly inclined to take it. Any opinions?

Starzizile, I will be happy to pass on the information if you are interested but I am sure in Nov you will be able to do much better on the location.

Hope you don't mind my posting here. Thanks!

janisj

Do you mean Easter Road? If so - what is the post code? If 61 is near Leith Links it is pretty far out BUT there is decent bus service so doable.

sugarmaple

Last spring we rented a 2br 2bathroom flat for four nights through Katie at Greatbase.

Someone here on Fodors recommended them, and they were excellent to deal with. They have lots of properties, ours was right behind the castle, but many along the Royal Mile.

excited_confused

Post code is H7 5PL. Just that I read that Easter Rd is not that great an area!
sugarmaple, thanks for the recommendation. I have gone thru every listing on airbnb, vrbo, homeaway etc so glad to check out something new!

janisj

Are you sure that is the post code? Edinburgh post codes start w/ an E. Give us a link to the flat's listing.

unclegus

EH7 5PL is top end of Easter road and a reasonable enough place to stay, loads of shops in that street but it is near the Hibernian Easter Raod stadium and if a game is on then the area will be really busy. loads of buses from London road into the city centre in 5 minutes or so and the buses are designed to take strollers.

maitaitom

Just got back from a great trip to Scotland.

In Edinburgh, we just stayed at a great B&B (110 pounds a night...only two rooms with breakfast included...loved the French toast). Millers64 on Pilrig is about a 20 minute walk to center of city and 30 minutes to castle. Taxi is only about 7 or 8 pounds (ten minutes...lots of construction going in town).

Louise is a great hostess. Mum makes really good jam. Good choices of breakfast (included) at Millers64. She provides a restaurant list of the area, too, where we had some really good meals. Highly recommended! Loved Edinburgh!

http://www.millers64.com/

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Re..._Scotland.html

excited_confused

Hi, sorry, must have missed the E when I copied and pasted, but yes, EH7 5PL is the correct post code.

unclegus, thanks for the heads up about the games, was not aware of that! There is a game on Friday, July 7th but we were planning to do an full day tour of the Highlands on either Friday or Saturday so maybe doing it on Friday may be a better idea?

Does anyone know if those tours should be booked in advance and if there are any discounts available?

How much do single ride bus tickets cost in Edinburgh? We will probably do a combination of walking, uber and bus transportation so wasn't sure if the all-day pass would be worth it for 3 people.

Here is the link to the apt..
https://www.vrbo.com/8076216ha?

This is something I just found on Greatbase (thanks sugarmaple), slightly more expensive..
https://www.greatbase.co.uk/new-town-mews/

Thoughts??

janisj

If you are taking a Rabbies tour -- I'd definitely book ahead. They use 16 passenger vans and you are talking a summer weekend.

The second flat is in a better/nicer location .

(I wouldn't bother w/ uber -- the buses, tram, widely available cabs, and walking would all be cheaper than uber)

Dogeared

Excited_confused, July has 31 nights in it. Which nights are you looking at?

You want something central for 3 people and for $200 (USD?). Perhaps you need to consider whether your expectation that you can find that is realistic. Or realistic at least for a place you would consider acceptable.

For example, take a look at this 2 bed flat on the Royal Mile which you can have for $243 per night for 3 nights in July, on two available weekends.
http://www.nts.org.uk/Holidays/Accom...adstones-Land/

That may be a bit more expensive than the B&B maitaitom has suggested but it is ZERO minutes from the centre. You couldn't get any more central. However, you can't expect to get a location like that for the same price as somewhere half an hour out from the centre. Expectations have to be in line with the reality of prices in any given location. Give up 'central' or pay for it.

For example, if you were to stay outside Edinburgh in the seaside village of Aberdour to the north, you could get a family room in the Woodside Hotel for $148 USD per night. A 2 minute walk to the train station and a 35 minute ride to Waverley Station in Edinburgh. I'm not suggesting that hotel, I'm simply using it as an example.
http://www.thewoodsidehotel.co.uk/

When you look for something fairly extensively and cannot really find anything that meets your criteria, there comes a point when it only makes sense to do something different. One definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting the result to change. (A. Einstein)

Re staying outside Edinburgh as an idea, it has some actual merit. While the liveliness of the city during the day may be what people are happy with, there is something to be said for the peace and quiet of a small seaside village at night. Or even for a quiet day spent walking the Fife coastal walking path in the case of Aberdour.

As for travel time, there are 48 trains a day between Aberdour and Edinburgh, so there is no issue about getting to Edinburgh and back pretty much anytime you want. The same is true of many smaller towns and villages surrounding Edinburgh.

I like staying in Edinburgh but if my budget was tight, I wouldn't hesitate to stay in a place like Aberdour and 'commute', rather than banging my head against a wall trying to find a nice place to stay in the city when my budget simply wasn't enough to get me what I wanted.

excited_confused

Hi, Dogeared, I AM getting an acceptable place in Edinburgh within my budget so no need to go outside the city, just trying to find out how the area is from someone who is familiar with it. But thanks for suggesting Aberdeen.

Doing a thorough search is not banging my head, I enjoy my travel research almost as much as the travel itself! I am just acknowledging that availability is limited, partly because my dates (July 6-10) are pretty close. And cancellations do occur so in this case Einstein might have been wrong!

Janisj, thoughts on the Easter Rd location and the flat?

Thanks all!

janisj

I didn't comment on the flat because I was having a problem opening the link but now I've seen it.

The location is certainly 'OK' (with the caveat re the stadium) because the bus service is quite good. There are very few photos -- the kitchen looks nice, and the bathroom - tiny. However the kitchen shots don't seem to photos but perhaps graphics from a sales brochure or something.

There are no reviews yet -- which could mean it is too new on the market.

So really, I can't say anything about the flat itself - but the location would be OK-ish.

kerouac

I had a totally fantastic stay at the Ibis Styles in January. An added plus was that it was a completrly direct ride on the tramway from the airport to the hotel.

Here is the report that I made: http://tinyurl.com/tinyEdinburgh

janisj

That Ibis is in a wonderful location. Right on St Andrews Sq very near Waverly station, Waverly Bridge for the tour buses, Princes Street and all the restaurants/pubs on Rose Street.

unclegus

https://lothianbuses.co.uk/
this is the local bus website , loads of info there on buses and on bus tours.it costs £1.60 per journey for each passenger and children under 5 go free and that include the stroller.A day ticket is only£4 for as many trips from first bus in the morning (about 4.30 am to last bus at night (around midnight).

excited_confused

The Ibis sounds good and in a great location but unfortunately does not have a triple room available for our dates. In any case, for 4 nights, we are probably better off with 2 rooms so a flat seemed like the better option.

Janisj, that flat on Easter Rd is currently under renovation, I am awaiting more pictures from the owner. It is being remodeled from the studs out so I'm expecting it to look good! It is about 100 sq metres but the bathroom, which is the only thing that is ready yet, is really small.

Are the Rabies tours supposed to be better than others? I see a lot of different ones covering different areas, which is the most recommended?

Unclegus, thanks for the link to the bus website.

historytraveler

Regarding Rabbies tours. IMO, they are better than the others. I have done several with Rabbies and a few with the other contenders. The biggest plus with Rabbies is that all tours are conducted on a 16 passenger van. On the others you're likely to find yourself with 30 or more doing the tour. In this case smaller is better.

janisj

>>Are the Rabies tours supposed to be better than others? <<

There are about the best going. Small groups - 16 or fewer passengers. They have been around for YEARS and offer some really good itineraries. Timberbush is also good -- but they use larger buses.


Did you check availability at the property I linked up thread?

I'm not sure if you mentioned the age of your DD. If she is under 16, you could try for a family room in any of the travelodges.

excited_confused

Hi janisj, yes, no availability but in any case, it is 1BR and on the 2nd floor. My knees are not what they used to be so looking for not more than one flight of stairs. My DD is over 21!

Bus tours - Timberland goes upto Inverness, Rabies does not seem to, does that matter? Was hoping to wait until I could check the weather forecast, will 3-4 days ahead of time be too late? Based on current availability, seems like Rabies books up about a week in advance.

Thanks!